After bombing out of the first round in straight sets, Bernard Tomic makes the confronting admission that he was a “little bit bored out there,” and that at his “eighth Wimbledon, or ninth I think…it’s tough to find motivation.”

I must say I agree with Fitzy’s assessment: this is a young man crying out for help. Tomic’s performance was much more than a bad day at the office. After 10 years playing tennis successfully at the international level, something is clearly wrong with him.

He’s not just off his game. He’s in a really dark place mentally. And he’s melting down in a painfully public way.

I can understand that tennis is a lonely sport. Endless competition, training, travel and intense pressure. Tomic says “I just believe playing many years on tour now has sort of taken a toll.”

The worrying thing is that Tomic is not the only one. The other Aussie young gun, Nick Kyrgios, regularly has his fragile emotional disposition on display. That’s not a pretty sight either.

It certainly goes to show that simply having the talent to whack a ball really hard around a court does not make a champion. There is something else required. Not just mental stamina, but passion.

Tomic says he’s not ready to give up the sport, and in the next breath says, “but I think I don’t respect it enough.” If I was in such a distressed state I don’t know if I could write a single word.

With his mental health teetering on a precipice, those close to Tomic should counsel him to take a break. If his heart’s not in it, playing the game becomes the toughest job in the world.